Project MAI

In English

Project:

Design and construction of a mechanical hand with manipulation capability

TITLE: Design and construction of a mechanical hand with manipulation capability

REFERENCE: CICYT TAP98-0471

PERIOD: 1998-2001

PROJECT LEADER: Raúl Suárez Feijóo

E-mail: raul.suarez@upc.es
Phone: +34-934016548/6654

CENTER: Institut de Organització i Control de Sistemes Industrials (IOC)
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)

KEYWORDS: robotics, grasping, manipulation, dexterous mechanical hands, versatile grippers, teleoperation

The use of robot grippers with two fingers or with shapes specially designed for a particular application is quite common in the robotics world. These grippers have reached a high degree of development and sophistication but, nevertheless, their flexibility in front of different type of application is very limited. The paradigm of a tool with high flexibility is the human hand that can be considered as the example of dexterous hand to be imitated, because besides the grasping capability the human hand is able to manipulate objects of different shape and size.

In this project, the development of a dexterous hand is proposed with the basic objective of concluding in a working prototype. This objective implies the realization of the following phases: mechanical hand design, physical construction of the hand and the electronics to control it, development of the control strategies for each articulation, and development of the basic strategies to perform coordinated motions in different applications.

The potential applications of the proposed dexterous hand can be classified in three main fields: use as a very versatile tool for robots in industry and in services; use as a teleoperated tool to replace the human presence in dangerous tasks or in dangerous environments; and use as a prosthetic hand or assistant tool for handicap people.